Missionary in Jordan: God’s mercy for refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq
Sister Adele Brambilla works at the Italian Hospital in Karak in the south of the country, where refugees from Syria and Iraq have found shelter. For her, “evangelising with deeds, not words” means the “excluded, the poor, the outcast.” A pregnant woman fled Aleppo to give birth to her child "in a peaceful oasis". She stresses the value of spirituality and prayer of the mission in the Muslim world, and asks Europe to open its doors and, like Jordan, not be afraid.
Karak (AsiaNews) – The mission means "to bear witness to God’s mercy" for the people born and bred in this land and for the refugees fleeing from wars in the Middle East. It means "evangelising with deeds, not words" because "we are immersed" in a context in which "97 per cent of the population is Muslim,” said Sister Adele Brambilla, a Combonian nun from Italy who works at the Italian Hospital in Karak, a city of 170,000 people in southern Jordan, 150 kilometres from Amman.
Speaking to AsiaNews, she said that Mercy is expressed by "evangelical choices" that include “welcoming refugees and displaced persons, Syrians and Iraqis fleeing the war. It means opening the doors to Bedouins from the south, the lands near the Dead Sea, who live in precarious conditions or have no government insurance coverage. Today we especially welcome Syrian refugees and share this choice of openness and care by involving all our staff, Muslims too," said the nun.
Founded in 1939, the Italian Hospital in Karak is the only clinic in the area and has about 40 beds. It is supported by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA), the Vatican's special agency helping the Catholic Churches and peoples of the Middle East. "In everyday life, we witness this God who leans towards the excluded, the poor, the outcast.”
One of the many tragic stories that impressed the nun recently was that of a pregnant woman who after fleeing the war in Syria crossed the desert and ended up in a refugee camp, before reaching the Italian hospital. "She left Aleppo and went to Damascus . . . an ordeal,” Sister Adele said. “When I asked why she went through all of this, she said, ‘so that my child may live and be born in a peaceful oasis'.”
“These mothers, in order to give life, are willing to face these deadly journeys.” Hope is reflected in their most common expression: "Inshallah" (God willing). "They are deprived of everything, without emotional and social ties but there is always that basis of hope in God."
Sister Adele Brambilla was born in Milan on 19 July 1949. In 1973, she made her religious profession, followed by years of studies in England (until 1980) where she graduated in nursing. In 1984 she went to Amman for the first time, the capital of the Hashemite kingdom, where the Italian Hospital was located until 1996, the year when she was elected provincial superior of the Comboni Sisters.
On 5 October 1988, she was appointed as superior general, a position that allows her to visit several countries in the world on four continents (Africa, America, Asia and Europe) where her congregation is represented with about 1,700 religious. A few weeks later, on 22 December, Jordan’s Prince Hassan, on behalf of King Hussein, gave her the Jordan Independence Medal of the First Order for 15 years of service to the poor at the hospital in Amman.
Today, her mission continues in the south of the country, always in health care, in contact with hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and Iraq. This emergency is a heavy burden on a country of six million inhabitants, which has received about 800,000 refugees.
"We should learn from the Jordanian people,” Sister Adele said. “They are not rich, but they did not close the doors. They are afraid and they continue to do what they can without discrimination, in the face of problems already present for some time like water and food shortages, and poor transport."
The Christian presence in the hospital and the region is an example of "living mercy", made manifest by "evangelising with deeds, not words." This involves “all the staff, which is 80 per cent Muslim, who also feel responsible for this task,” Sister Adele explained. This mission "is experience in a perspective of openness to others, without discrimination, that calls for taking care of those who are last, in what we call the protocol of mercy."
When the mission occurs in a country with a Muslim majority, "bearing witness becomes the most important thing” for Sister Adele, especially "translating what Jesus asks in the Sermon on the Mount in an actual deed.”
"The evangelical beatitudes must be the beacon that guides the mission, especially with respect to the little ones, the poor, the excluded,” the nun said. “We must add to this a deep sense of spirituality, which must never be lacking in missionary communities that operate "in areas where Islam is the main religion. Muslims "have a very deep relationship with God, which is manifested through prayer and this is something from which we [Christians] can learn."
Sister Adele also adds female charisma in mission to profound spirituality because it "also allows us to meet Muslim women. They have a lot of respect for us nuns and they know that we are consecrated and recognise their value."
The role of women in the mission, which Pope Francis extolled in his message for World Day "reveals God’s motherhood and his ability to generate. There is nothing like the woman in terms of the ability to generate, as a seed that grows within bearing fruit in health, education, and social affairs. Women [Christian missionaries] in the Muslim world have access to places and situations where men cannot go."
During her mission, Sister Adele learnt the value "of silence and contemplation, of learning from the people around me. This is like a hidden stone that listens for we are not the protagonists of the mission; Christ, who guides and enlightens us, is". Moreover, silence also helps us to understand the "human tragedy" that is unfolding in the Middle East today "with young people, women, children without a future."
"It is really possible to see the face of Jesus in them,” the nun said, “because they are stripped of everything. In their eyes, we can see the signs of tragedy. They are scared, asking for help, but they do so without anger or rancor."
"For this reason, I call on Europe hopefully not to build walls in front of these people fleeing to avoid being killed, but to extend to them an open hand. Do not be afraid; Jordan is not afraid." (DS)
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10/05/2024 18:32
22/10/2022 12:00
